Just for funsies I checked the apartment I used to rent in college. In 2001 I rented it with my BFF for $475/month. It went up to $650 before we moved out in 2004.
The exact same apartment (with new laminate flooring) is $1475/month. Welcome to inflation (and why my college kids live with me).
@LianaBrooks You inspired me to look up mine. Nothing was currently advertised for rent, but the chart said average rents were around $2500/month for a studio in that vicinity.. I paid just under $300. Yikes! And regular person housing was in the $3000-$7000 range for apartments 😳
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@BlueStateBabe I doubt minimum wage has gone up to compensate.
@LianaBrooks I think Minimum was around $3-$4 at the time. So rent was around 100x MW. Now, in CA, MW is $16. 100x = $1600 (still outrageous for one room IMHO). From what I saw, you'd be lucky for a private bedroom in a shared dwelling at that price.